


A Drink or Five of Courage

by wonderlandiscrumbling



Series: The Hunter and the Wolf [2]
Category: Fright Night (2011), Underworld (Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, Lucian feels guilty about loving somebody new, Lucian respects Peter, M/M, Mentions of non-con, Peter's anxious about his feelings, protective lycan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:21:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22305601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderlandiscrumbling/pseuds/wonderlandiscrumbling
Summary: Lucian is well accustomed to Peter calling him over for company while he drinks, except this night something feels quite different compared to their other times of drinking.
Relationships: Lucian (Underworld)/Peter Vincent
Series: The Hunter and the Wolf [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1660111
Comments: 9
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1

Lucian doesn’t find it too odd when Peter calls him in the middle of the night inviting him to his flat. It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened; when he first started doing this it would be under the guise of a new job offered to them, of course when he’d arrive he’d be informed there was no job and Peter was just lonely. After a few months the façade dropped, and he’d receive texts or calls just asking for drinking company. Even the times that Lucian pretended he was annoyed by this he really wasn’t, he secretly enjoyed his friend’s company, and spending so much time alone was taking its toll on him. He’d spent so many years and centuries with a pack and now he was alone, even if Peter was human, he was still company, interesting company at that.

When he arrived at Peter’s apartment, he found the door unlocked, inside music blared on the stereo and Peter was on his black leather couch pouring himself another shot of something from a rather large bottle. He smiled when he saw Lucian enter the apartment closing and locking the door behind himself before he made his way to the couch. 

“Has that been unlocked all day?” He asked pointing back towards the door.

“Eh most of it.” He responded handing his friend a drink once he sat down.

Lucian looked at the shot glass he now held in his hand, he then looked at the bottle noting it was spiced rum, 95 proof and from the looks of it Peter had gone through a lot of it. Lucian downed his shot and was immediately given a second.

“Should be more careful, you’ve pissed off half the city.” 

Peter waved off his comment, “Please like anybody is gonna try and fuck with me when you’re here.” 

“Who said I would defend you; I can’t blame any of them for wanting to kick your ass.” He responded laughing.

He’d seen the fits his friend threw, some of them drug fueled or just fueled by his own petulance. He often bit his tongue to keep from making remarks on the less than tasteful way Peter went about firing employees.

“Ah c’mon you always protect me, like an instinct or something, besides you’d be fucking bored if I wasn’t around.” 

Lucian gave a small smile at that; he downed his shot then moved onto shot number three already knowing he would never be as drunk as Peter currently was or would be by the time the sun rose. 

“You aren’t the only person I know.” 

“Who else you know, other wolves?” 

“Yes actually, you really have never read a single thing about me, have you?” Lucian asked almost incredulous by the hunter’s lack of interest.

He felt like a prick expecting Peter to know about him, about the countless wars and battles fought between lycans and vampires, about the experiments on werewolves, slaves forced into becoming lycans so they could be worked for eternity by the sun fearing bastards. He just assumed a hunter would take more interests in monsters and their lore, especially considering the collection of old tomes Peter had tucked away in a trunk.

Peter smirked leaning back in his seat. “Where would be the fun in that, then I’d know everything there is to know about you, prefer learning from you.” 

Lucian shook his head smiling at how nearly endearing that statement was. He nearly felt bad about how very little he shared with him, but there was a relief in his past being his and his alone for once. Peter had no interest in him because he was an alpha, he didn’t care about his strength or abilities, he didn’t know about any of that. He hardly seemed to know much at all about lycans or werewolves, only about vampires as if they were a fixation for him. Lucian poured himself another shot, Peter grabbed the bottle from him filling his own glass until it nearly over flowed.

“I’m not exactly the sharing type.” 

“I’ve noticed that, you always do that vague brooding thing, you’re like Batman or something.” Peter said laughing at his own comment.

“I’m not sure if I should be complimented or angry.” Lucian responded smiling despite himself.

“Ah c’mon it’s a compliment, much hotter than Batman anyways.” He said smirking.

The lycan poured himself another shot, he never quite knew how to respond to the times that Peter complimented him or flirted with him, it wasn’t something he was too accustomed to not in recent years anyway. He told himself early on that he wouldn’t fall for it, for him, but sometimes that was extremely difficult. He glanced over to see Peter was watching him, that fondness in his eyes that was buried under mischief. For as frustrating as the mortal could be, he was charming, smart when he actually tried to be, and quite beautiful. 

Still though mortals were temporary, a human’s life span compared to his own was a flash in the pan. The thought of putting himself through that, through being with somebody who would age and weaken then one day die felt nearly masochistic. He couldn’t do that to himself.

“You need to drink more; you’re doing that brooding thing again.” Peter said as he attempted to get up from the couch, he fell back down onto the couch twice before managing to get to his feet.

His movements unbalanced as he made his way back to the bar to retrieve a bottle of absinth bringing it back to the couch and handing it to his friend.

“I’m not brooding, I was thinking.” He corrected as he uncapped the bottle taking a long drink from it.

Peter poked his arm, “You do too much of that too, never does anybody any good to think as much as you do. Think that’s most the reason why you seem so moody.” He slurred out.

“I’m not moody,” despite how moody he sounded when saying that. Peter laughed; he tossed his empty glass to the floor.

“Are too, it’s like your thing or something, how long you been alive again?”

“Nearly 600 years.”

“Fucking hell, that long and you live in abandoned buildings, not out owning a business or something.”

Lucian laughed, “Why the Hell would I own a business?”

Peter shrugged, “I duno, better than living in that dreary hell hole of yours.”

“I moved actually.”

“Where to?”

“A warehouse that used to have shoes in it then turned into a meth lab, but it’s been empty for a while.” He answered quietly realizing that perhaps he should at least move into an abandoned house or even a mobile home.

“Christ, where do most lycans live anyway? Can’t imagine they all live the way you do.”

Lucian took another pull from the bottle, “My pack lived in the sewers, under the city, and in low income areas. I don’t know about others, but we tend to spend our time hiding from vampires. You’d know this if you bothered reading a book.” 

“C’mon those are just for show, cost me out the ass to collect all those books.” 

“Those books have more monetary value than a lot of the garbage you collect.”

“Hey, it isn’t garbage, all those weapons cost a lot.” Peter argued appearing quite offended by the idea that he’d been scammed.

“I’ve lived longer than you and the people you buy weapons from, I can tell you half of what you own is new and quite useless.”

“Know it all” He muttered before falling quiet for much longer than Lucian was accustomed to before speaking again. “Hey, I, I actually did want you to come here for a reason y’know.” He confessed his voice soft, his tone more serious than what Lucian was accustomed to from him.

The lycan sat the bottle on the coffee table, he felt his heart pounding in his chest. There was a change in the air, in his friend’s aura, he could feel something familiar that made him just the slightest bit nervous. 

“What is it?”

“We…we’ve known each other for awhile now, like we’re close, aren’t we?” Peter asked, he nervously fidgeted with his fingers as he stared at the other man, pupils blown and a sort of desperation in his eyes.

“I would say so, yes.” He slowly agreed.

Don’t fall for mortals, it was a dangerous thing to do. He thought to himself though the reminder felt weak in his mind as he looked at the man sitting next to him who was suddenly so vulnerable.

“Right so, fuck I…I had this planned out better y’know?” He said laughing nervously, he looked away seeming to suddenly regret everything he’d been planning to say.

Lucian found himself reaching for his hand giving it a reassuring squeeze, he knew where this was going and it terrified him, he knew deep down he should leave before anything could be said that would change things completely, but he found himself glued to the spot. He felt centuries younger, naïve, so dumb to how terribly this could go.

Peter looked at him again, a moment later the hunter’s lips were pressed against his in a sloppy anxious drunken attempt at kissing, and his fingers were tangled in Lucian’s hair. Despite what he knew he should do he kissed him back, his own hand resting against the back of Peter’s neck assuring him this was okay even if it wasn’t. He guided the kiss turning it into something more coherent as Peter moved to settle himself on the lycan’s lap. Lucian moaned softly when Peter bit and sucked against his bottom lip, hands sliding up under the front of his shirt, Peter’s nails gently scratching against his skin. The sensation of skin on skin snapped him back to reality of the situation. He took hold of Peter’s wrists gently pulling his hands away as he broke away from the kiss. Peter stared at him confused and hurt.

“Too fast?” He asked, worried.

Lucian pressed a kiss to his left hand then the right. “No, just…. You’re drunk.”

Peter laughed, “I’m well aware of that, still know I want you.” 

He released hold of his wrists; he placed a hand against his cheek brushing his thumb against his flushed skin. “I’d prefer if we do anything, we’re in a more sober state.”

Even then he knew they shouldn’t do anything, but he wasn’t sure he could help it. If by the time Peter sobered up, he still wanted this, wanted him then he knew he’d give him anything he desired. He so badly wanted to be rational, to reflect on what a bad idea romancing a mortal was, but it was difficult to form rational thought when he could still feel the warmth on his lips from where they’d been kissing a moment ago.

Peter sighed resting his forehead against the other man’s shoulder. “Gotta be the first guy who has actually given a shit if I’m sober or not, most them just want to say they got to shag me.” He admitted relaxing against the older man’s body.

He felt his heart ache at that, he placed a hand against Peter’s back gently rubbing. He was quite sure he’d kill anybody who thought they could use Peter’s body that way. 

“I would never do that to you.” 

“I know, you’re such a fucking gentleman y’know.”

Lucian chuckled; he’d never been referred to that way before. Peter was the first in such a long time to describe him in such utterly human ways.

He kissed the top of his head before carefully moving his friend off his lap and back onto the couch much to Peter’s annoyance at being moved. “I’m taking you to bed.” He said as he got up offering his hand to him.

The hunter took his hand allowing him to pull him up from the couch, he leaned heavily against his side. “Always wanted to hear you say that.” He said smirking.

Lucian remained silent as he led him back to the bedroom, careful as he laid him down on the bed. He decided to sit next to him watching as Peter relaxed grabbing a pillow and holding it against himself, he stared up at Lucian. 

“You gonna stay in here with me?”

“I don’t think I should.” 

“Why are you so nice to me?” 

“I’m respecting you; you deserve respect.” He corrected.

“No not just that, you…Most people I have known fuck off, and I can’t blame them for that. I’m an absolute bastard to be around, but you just keep coming ‘round.”

He could tell there was a lot more that Peter wanted to say, but he was far too drunk to form those words in a coherent sense. Lucian pet his fingers through the other man’s hair watching as he closed his eyes content by the affectionate touch. He wondered if Peter had ever been involved with somebody in a real sense or if his relationships were all toxic, even his one-night stands sounded harmful. He continued petting his hair until he was certain the other man was asleep.

He quietly left the bedroom making his way back to the couch. The idea of just leaving felt wrong to him, he knew if they didn’t talk about this when Peter sobered up then they would never speak about this again, and he wasn’t sure he could do that. As he lay down on the couch, he felt nearly guilty at his own feelings. His fingers traced along the medallion he wore, he knew it had been hundreds of years since Sonja was murdered, but it still felt like yesterday, the images never far from his mind. The fact that Peter could bring out that same intense sensation of love in him was terrifying. Sonja should have lived forever, they should have been allowed to have a child, to live in peace away from her father and that horrid kingdom built upon genocide and slavery. Now here he was hundreds of years later in love with a mortal, a mortal with an addiction to alcohol and drugs; if old age or illness didn’t take him then an overdose surely would. Peter’s life was temporary, if they were to be together then Lucian would live knowing that and waiting for that day to come sooner or later.

It wasn’t worth the risk, he knew that it wasn’t, but he couldn’t help it. Pretending he didn’t feel something for the mortal only made him frustrated, made being around him difficult. He decided that at this point whatever happened came down to Peter now; if he sobered up and wanted to pretend this night never happened then they’d go forward with that, but if he really wanted to talk about it then Lucian knew how much things would change, how tragically it would all one day end.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter woke up with at least one of the top ten worst hangovers of his thirty-three years of life. He considered just staying in his bed for the remainder of the day until little bits and pieces of the night before tore into his mind forcing him to remember that he might have fucked up just the slightest bit.

“Fucking idiot” he hissed at himself.

He hadn’t intended to get that drunk, he hadn’t intended to get drunk at all, not really. He’d intended to just gather the courage to tell Lucian how he felt about him; invite him over, talk, and then in a mature well worded way tell him that he was falling in love with him. Except the longer he’d thought about it and what he should say the more nervous he’d gotten; he’d begun feeling like a complete idiot and that’s when he’d found the bottle of Kraken stashed away in his bar. He’d figured a couple of shots would help him get through the conversation, but by the time he called Lucian he was well past two shots in.

“Why are you such a fucking idiot?” He asked himself as he slowly moved into a sitting position running his fingers back through his hair. 

He had to get drunk and just throw himself at him like a horny teenager. Lucian wasn’t like the creeps at the night clubs that he frequented, he wasn’t some sleezy bastard who didn’t care about consent or boundaries. So of course, he hadn’t really gone for Peter’s drunken act of desperation. He felt embarrassed and disgusted with himself on multiple levels, he wasn’t quite sure where to start. He smacked the palm of his hand against his forehead groaning at the resounding pain of it. 

Eventually he managed to get out of bed dragging himself to the bathroom to take a few prescription pain killers. 

He debated with himself if he should call him now or later or maybe even never. Could just cut off contact completely, ghost him. Pretend that last night never happened, because he was pretty sure Lucian would want that. He’d been so damn nice about the entire thing, nicer than anybody Peter had been with, that thought alone depressed him. He knew he should sit and evaluate the state of his life and how he might potentially be at rock bottom, but that took time and admitting he had a problem and he wasn’t about to do that.

He walked through the living room and towards the kitchenette, he made it to the Keurig and as far as turning it on before he realized he wasn’t alone in the apartment. He turned around to see that Lucian was sitting on the couch watching him, from the looks of it he’d just recently woken up. Peter forced a smile wanting to hide the panic he felt.

He didn’t want to have this conversation; he’d never told somebody he loved them before. Just because Lucian respected him and had been kind to him last night didn’t mean he felt anything for him.

“You stay the night?” He asked trying for casual.

Lucian got up from the couch, Peter watched him as he walked up to the bar that separated them. “I did, I thought it would be rude if I left.”

“You didn’t have to stay, I’m sure that you didn’t want to.” Peter said as he turned back to the Keurig popping in a coffee pod, selecting 10 oz then turning back to Lucian who was still staring at him.

“Look about last night, I….That was not how it was supposed to go, I feel like a fucking idiot.” He admitted.

“How was it supposed to go?” 

Peter let out a dry laugh, he wondered if this was leading up to the part where he’s insulted for thinking they could be a thing. 

He startled slightly when Lucian came around the counter and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at him hating how anxious he felt, hating how calm the other man seemed about all of this.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes”

“Alright well, I planned on being sober all night, and I was going to….I was going to get around to telling you that…” He trailed off feeling last night’s anxiety flooding his chest. Lucian placed a hand against his cheek, his touch was gentle and encouraging. Peter could cry from it, but that would only make everything worse. “I love you” He managed out, his voice a whisper.

He waited to be laughed at, to be told in a cold voice how idiotic it was for him to feel that way. He didn’t expect for Lucian to press a kiss against his forehead. “I love you too” he whispered against his skin.

Peter stared at him trying to process hearing those words from him, trying to process the fact hung over at noon he managed to say them himself. “You mean that?”

“I wouldn’t lie to you, especially about that.” Lucian assured him and he knew he was being honest.

Peter wrapped his arms around his waist hugging him tightly, he hid his face against the side of the other man’s neck. There was a relief in being hugged back, in being shown affection, and being told he was loved. If it didn’t seem so stupid to him, he’d spend the rest of the day telling him repeatedly that he loved him, say it until he wasn’t sure the word covered just how he felt any longer.

“Do you think you could stay the rest of the day?” 

“Of course, I’ll stay as long as you want.”

He wanted to tell him that he wanted him around forever, he was the first person to make him feel safe, the first one who didn’t just see him as a complete bastard. It scared him being seen, but there was a comfort in feeling wanted and feeling human.


End file.
